THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504050471
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SOUTHERN SHORES LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
Jet skis are noisy, dangerous, disruptive - and should be banned within 300 yards of the soundside shores of this Outer Banks beach town, resident John C. Bradley told the Town Council Tuesday.
At least five other people in the audience agreed.
But an equal number of town residents opposed Bradley's suggestion, saying government imposes too many restrictions on individual rights and, as long as motorized personal watercraft are legal, they should be allowed to operate in public waters.
``I am here this morning to defend my rights to use my jet ski in public waterways,'' said R.C. Kenan Jr., a Southern Shores resident who rides personal watercraft with his son. ``Jet skis are in the same Coast Guard classification as any small motor boat less than 16 feet long. . . . It would be discriminatory to enact regulations that affect one type of craft only.''
Southern Shores restricts jet ski operators from coming within 100 yards of the beach when they are cruising in the ocean. But no Outer Banks towns have rules governing personal watercraft use in the sounds. Nags Head's Board of Commissioners is studying the issue, and plans to make a decision in September.
Southern Shores Mayor Kern P. Pitts said his board will consider the proposals, then vote on jet ski regulations at a meeting in May or June.
``There will not be a decision made this morning,'' Pitts told the 60 people who gathered at town hall Tuesday for the public hearing. ``We just want to hear the pros and cons from both sides. We've already received several letters from people both for and against this proposal.''
Bradley said his idea to regulate jet skis in the sound stems from an incident Aug. 12 in which a vacationing 14-year-old was killed in Southern Shores waters while operating a jet ski.
Besides banning jet skis within 300 yards of the soundside shore, Bradley wants the town to make it illegal for anyone to operate a personal watercraft in Southern Shores canals - and for anyone under age 16 to operate a personal watercraft at all.
At least 88 people who own soundfront property in Southern Shores signed a petition supporting Bradley's proposal.
``If you think noise is no problem with jet skis, you don't understand that jet skis come much closer to shore than other boats - and that they sound like drag racers without mufflers or Hell's Angels on their motorcycles running up and down your street all day,'' said Southern Shores resident Bob Trost. ``They'll drive you right off your porch with their noise. You can't even have a conversation outside on summer Saturdays.''
Bradley agreed. ``The noise can be deafening and insidious. And sometimes it goes on for hours,'' he wrote in the four-page petition. ``We have literally been driven indoors, denied such peaceful activities as reading in a lawn chair or gardening, by jet skis going round and round.''
Other speakers decried the danger of jet skis, saying that personal watercraft interfere with swimmers, kayakers and other boaters. Most residents urged the Town Council to at least restrict jet skis around the soundside swimming beach.
Retired attorney Norman Fenstermaker said council members should consider the town's liability if personal watercraft operators are allowed to continue cruising the shallow canals.
``There are many obstructions beneath the water in those canals,'' Fenstermaker said. ``There is much more to be thought about in this issue than noise alone.''
Opponents of the proposed jet ski regulations say personal watercraft operate at the same noise level as small motor boats, generating 72 to 85 decibels of sound. State law does not specify a legal age for personal watercraft operators. So towns should not take that task upon themselves, the jet ski proponents said.
In Virginia, jet ski operators must be 16.
Southern Shores Police Chief Danny Beasley and residents of Martin's Point community worried about enforcing jet ski regulations if the town adopts them.
A larger, louder boat would be required to patrol the sound to track down violators of personal watercraft ordinances, one man said. Beasley said issuing tickets from shore would be almost impossible.
``I've only got one uniformed officer on duty at any one time in this town,'' Beasley said. ``We give 400 or more speeding tickets already each summer month. If I'm standing on the sound shore waiting to get a jet skier, that's all I can do to enforce that regulation. That's not enough to make it really worthwhile. And it would take us away from other activities.''
Alden Thornton, who owns property in Martin's Point, said forcing personal watercraft operators to go at least 300 yards out in the sound would completely prohibit jet skis in Ginguite Creek - and cause even greater safety risks.
``If you make them go that far out, we'll have to rescue them much more often,'' Thornton said. ``People get stranded that far out and can't get back to shore on their own. We rescued one kid on a jet ski last year who'd been out there for five hours. He was terrified.
``I don't care for all the noise the personal watercraft cause,'' Thornton said. ``But there are a whole lot of other issues out there to consider.''
As an alternative proposal, Thornton suggested imposing time restrictions on jet ski use, limiting them to certain hours or certain days through the summer.
Other speakers said council members could compromise on how close personal watercraft could come to the soundside shores. In Duck, for example, jet skis cannot come within 300 feet of the soundside shores - one-third the distance that the petition recommends.
In other business Tuesday, the Southern Shores Town Council:
Scheduled a retreat for this week. Members of the Town Council will meet in a conference room at the Aycock Brown Welcome Center from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Thursday and from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday to discuss the 1995-96 budget, jet ski regulations and other issues. The public is welcome.
Voted unanimously to spend $2,500 for a study of town roads by the Institute of Transportation Research and Education in Raleigh. The study will evaluate conditions off all streets within the town limits and will help elected officials prioritize road repairs.
Voted unanimously to give all town employees a 5 percent bonus this year.
Proclaimed April 9-15 ``Building Safety Week.''
Asked any Outer Banks resident who loses insurance coverage on their homeowners or wind policy to call the town hall at (919) 261-2394. Southern Shores is trying to compile a list of local people whose insurance policies have been canceled simply because they live on a barrier island. by CNB